High for This
by WhispersofNature
Summary: Billy is intrigued by a girl who thinks she has a say in his world and wants to know more about her. But will keeping company with a gang leader prove to be too dangerous for her and begin to unravel a past that she has hidden from even herself? Billy/OC
1. Chapter 1

**Ch. 1**

**Starting off Strong**

As he closed the lighter and slipped it into his pocket, he took a long drag of his cigarette. When he pulled it from his lips he let the smoke slowly billow out, curling around him. His eyes were deadlocked with hers, sizing her up. She wasn't too tall, ample build. Her rich, dark brown hair fell well past her shoulders. For all intents and purposes she would've been considered absolutely stunning. Of course, this was not his focus at the moment. While he did idly take in all of these features, he concentrated on her eyes. Most importantly, what she was saying with them. She held almost no fear in those eyes, though there was some; they were dead-set and determined. Her crystal blue eyes almost matched his, except for one very important feature – his eyes never hinted towards even the smallest amount of fear.

"You've got some nerve comin' down here for Lee, you know that?"

She didn't reply. She held still, standing her ground. She wasn't about to play any of his games.

"Tell me girl, what is it exactly you expect to do here?"

"Just tell me what I have to do, and I'll take care of it."

He grinned at this. "Tell you what to do? This ain't fuckin' rocket science, just pay up."

She sighed in frustration. "I don't have the money, and you sure as hell know she don't either. If either of us did, we wouldn't be in this little predicament now, would we?"

He narrowed his eyes a bit at her tone as he walked towards her, coming within inches of her. He easily towered over her as he bent down next to her ear. "That ain't my fuckin' problem, now is it?"

She felt her breath catch in her throat. She had never quite realized just how, well, large he really was. Her eyes dropped to the floor as she struggled to form a reply. "W-well n-no…" she was finally able to let out, her voice barely above a whisper, "it's-"

"Exactly," he said, cutting her off before she could finish. He brushed past her as he took another long drag from his cigarette. "Why don't you save yourself some trouble and just tell her to come down here. I've been waitin' long enough… and I won't be so kind if I have to go get her myself," he added the last part as an afterthought.

She mentally scolded herself for letting him get to her. After a deep breath, she gathered herself enough to turn around and face him. "Wait."

He turned back to look at her, getting more annoyed with every second she spoke.

"Please, don't do this to her. I'll do anything-"

"Anything?" he spoke as he slowly began walking towards her again. His expression had shifted, now more amused than anything.

She shrunk back a bit at his question. She wasn't even sure herself how far she was willing to help Leah out, and the look he was giving her wasn't helping. However, she knew she had no choice. She had to do _something_ or this whole situation could have a bad ending. Unfortunately for her, it was already looking that way.

"How much exactly does she owe? I mean can't we set up some kind of, I don't know, payment plan or-" she stopped mid-sentence when she heard him laugh. "What the hell is so funny?"

"What do you think this is a fuckin' bank? It wasn't no loan she took out little girl. She took my shit and didn't pay."

"Well now you make it sound like she stole from you," she countered, crossing her arms. She knew Leah was far from an angel but she knew she would never steal from anyone, not intentionally at least.

"Oh I'm sorry, what do _you_ call taking something without paying for it?"

She sighed and dropped her arms. He had her there. "There has to be something I can do…" She looked at him pleadingly, desperately. She hated that she was driven to this, that she was practically begging, and to _him_ no less, but there was nothing more she could offer. "Please…"

He took a long drag as he stared at her. "Look," he said as he exhaled, "why don't you save yourself some trouble and just go home."

"What about Leah?"

He shrugged. "One way or another, it will work itself out."

"No," she replied stubbornly, "I won't let you hurt her."

He raised an eyebrow curiously at her. "Oh really?" he said as he began approaching her again. "Tell me, how exactly do you intend to stop me from doing anything?"

She stood there and stared at him. She didn't have an answer for that, for she herself didn't know. However, she didn't let this break her stance.

He looked her over for a moment. He admired her courage, but that would only get you so far. "What the hell are you doing here for her anyways?" he asked, breaking the heavy silence between them. "It's not like this is your problem."

"If it involves Leah, then it is my problem," she countered. "She's not like all of your shitbag friends." She knew she struck a nerve there as she watched his expression harden. However, that was not enough to deter her. "She's my best friend, and practically the only family I've got. And if you think I'm just going to sit back and do nothing while she has to deal with this, then you're completely wrong."

"Don't you dare talk about my friends as if you know anythi-"

"Then don't question me about loyalty to my friends," she cut him off. She felt her confidence rising more and more as she spoke. She had no idea where this was coming from, but she wasn't about to let up now. She was the one who held the power now. Well, at least it was that way in her head. "I know this may be a new concept to someone like you, but I actually fight for the ones that I love."

He moved to yell back at her, to put her in her place, but he stopped. Instead, he restrained himself and replied after a long moment, "Is that so?"

A slight smile touched his lips. This girl didn't know who she was talking to. While he could have chosen to be completely pissed off at her statement, he found himself more amused than anything. She had no idea just how deep loyalties ran out here on the streets. "And you think that I don't?"

She narrowed her eyes slightly at him, wary of his sudden turn of emotions. She didn't like how calm he was being, as if this were a regular Sunday afternoon conversation.

For a moment, she thought over her reply. She knew she was treading in dangerous waters already, and at any moment she could push him too far. After thinking it over she settled on a question that not only followed up on her point, but one she herself was curious to hear the answer to. "Tell me Billy Darley, what do you have out here to love?"

Now wasn't that the question of the ages? He'd never really thought about it much, mostly because no one had ever asked him such a question. Immediately he thought of his little brother, Joe. He meant the world to him and he wouldn't hesitate to take a bullet for the kid. He felt the same about Bodie, who was practically his brother too. While he somewhat cared for the other guys in his gang, those two where the closest to him.

He hardened his gaze towards her. He didn't like this girl getting under his skin like this, but it only served to heighten his curiosity about her.

"Nothing that concerns you," he finally said after a he took a long drag. "You've got 'till next Friday." He figured he could keep Bones off his back for at least that long, but he was already pushing it.

"Wh-what?" she asked, confused and extremely surprised – that was not the response she had expected.

He rolled his eyes. "You fuckin' deaf or somethin'? I said you've got 'till next Friday; that's almost fuckin' two weeks. If you can't come up with the money by then," he shrugged, "then Godspeed." He knew if he didn't get the money by then, then it was his ass that would be on the line.

She couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Are you being serious?"

"Would you rather I reconsider?" he asked, beginning to regret this decision already.

"No!" she quickly replied, shaking her head.

"Alright then. Go," he said, waving his hand for her to leave.

She rolled her eyes and began to walk out. But before she left she stopped and turned slightly, looking up at him. "Hey."

"What?"

"Thanks."

He rolled his eyes. "Get your ass home Kayla."

She sighed and shook her head, turning to walk out. _There is not one appreciative bone in his body_, she thought to herself as she left.

His eyes followed her as she left. While she was a little rough around the edges, this girl intrigued him. He didn't quite know just what to make of her yet. While they have had previous relations a long time ago, he now felt that he'd be seeing a lot more of her.

As she walked home she mentally cursed herself. While she was proud of the fact that A – Billy hadn't decided to kill her and B – she'd freed up more time for them, she knew the problem was far from over. Even with the extra two weeks she knew Leah owed something in the thousands, and that was a hell of a lot of money to just "come up with" in that amount of time.

Slowly the streetlamps around her began to turn on. A car alarm sounded in the background, mixing in with the sound of an ambulance racing down the highway. The low hum of traffic rounded out the chorus of a city that never truly went to sleep. Worn out and mentally exhausted from the whole ordeal she'd gone through today, the sight of her apartment building was a relief. While her troubles still went unresolved and were far from over, she took solace in the fact that she could at least rest peacefully, if only for tonight.

She walked up the stairs to her door, pulling out her key. Once unlocked, she stepped inside and turned on the lights.

"What the…"

"Look, I know it looks bad right now, but it isn't as bad as it seems."

"Leah… what the hell did you do?"


	2. Chapter 2

_**Authors Note:** Happy Valentines Day everyone! Just thought I'd update as a little treat :) Hope you enjoy! P.S. Thank you to CupKatyCakes for the review!_

**Ch. 2**

**A Surprise Visitor**

"See, this is what I'm talking about! It's things like this that tear us apart. Why, upon walking in here, do you immediately assume that I was the one who did this? There are _so_ many possibilities as to how this could have happened yet you choose to blame me!"

"Leah!" Kayla practically yelled out as she closed the door behind her, trying to restrain her voice, "there is blood _everywhere_! And all over you! How can I_ not_ think you had something to do with... what the hell happened anyways?"

"What? What are you talking about? There's barely any blood on me. I mean... there's a little here but-"

"Leah! Please, try to focus."

"Yeah, yeah," she replied, waving her hand.

"So?" Kayla pressed. "Mind telling me what happened?"

Leah took a deep breath before exhaling slowly. "Alright. Do you remember Jason?"

"Jason... Jason..." She tossed the name around in her head for a moment before she place what Leah meant. "Wait, do you mean the psycho, drug peddling gang member you used to get high with? That Jason?"

Leah rolled her eyes. "If you mean my _ex-boyfriend_, then yes."

"If that's what you want to call him."

"That's what he was! Look, I know you only remember the bad stuff we did together, but he was more than that to me, OK?"

Kayla lifted her hands in surrender. "OK, I'm sorry. So, Jason. What about him?"

"Well, he was here."

"What? Leah, what the hell was he doing here? You know how I feel about him-"

"I know, I know," she sighed. "But I'd asked him to come here."

"Why?"

"We had some unfinished business," she shrugged.

Kayla narrowed her eyes. "Way to be vague. Would you mind elaborating?"

She watched Leah's reaction and realized that her friend had no intention of telling her. This aggravated her to an extent, but she knew she had to accept the fact that the girl had a right to her own privacy. Plus, ever since she had gotten away from Jason, he had become a sensitive topic. "Fine, don't tell me. But do you mind at least explaining all the blood?'

"Oh, that," she replied absentmindedly, as if she had forgotten all about it. "It's Joe's blood."

"Joe?"

"Joe Darley."

She felt as if her heart stopped. "Joe Darley... _The_ Joe Darley... Leah, what the _hell_ have you gotten us into!"

"Please stop being so melodramatic," Leah sighed. "Joe is _fine_. At least, he is for now. He's in my room, whining like a little baby. The bullet barely grazed him."

"Bullet? He got shot?"

"Yeah... about that. Remember how I'd said Jason came over? Well, while I did tell him to come over, I didn't know _when_ he was coming over. While I was waiting around, Joe randomly stopped by. Now, I almost told him to get lost cause I thought he was coming over on behalf of his brother to chew my ass out, but he didn't seem to know anything about that. So, me being friendly and all, I let him in."

"You let him in, knowing Jason was coming over?"

"No, no, no, it's like that. I'd told Jason to come over days ago but he never showed. He sent me a text the day before telling me he was coming today, but I waited around forever and he never showed. By the time Joe stopped by, I didn't think he was still coming."

"But he did come," Kayla continued.

"Right," Leah nodded. "And I did everything I could to make sure they wouldn't see each other. I specifically told Joe to stay in my room while I answered the door but his nosy ass just couldn't stay put. You remember that whole little dispute those two gangs had? Well, they sure as hell remembered. You should have seen their faces when they laid eyes on each other. They were at each other's throats in a second."

"So they fought," Kayla sighed, "and then what happened? How did Joe get shot?"

"Well, Joe was beating Jason up pretty badly. I tried to stop the two but that's like trying to separate two rabid dogs. Then, Jason pulled out his gun and pressed it against Joe's head. That was enough to stop him, at least for a minute. Once Jason got to his feet, Joe lunged at him and he pulled the trigger." She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to shake the memory. "All I saw was Joe's body hit the floor. Jason had to have left after that, 'cause I can't remember seeing him anytime after that."

Kayla shook her head slowly as she pictured the incident in her own mind. "Leah, I love you to death, but after all you've been through, I would think that by now you'd have learned to avoid situations like this."

"How is this my fault?" She immediately became defensive. "Were you even listening? It's not like I'd planned for this to happen."

"But you did let it happen," Kayla shot back. "I can see about a million ways all of this could have been avoided."

"Well I'm sorry I'm not a genius like you who sees everything before it happens."

She rolled her eyes. "That's not at all what I meant. You're always getting yourself into situations like this, and it seems like you don't learn from any of them. For instance, do you ever stop to consider that there are other men out there besides gang members?"

"I'm not you Kayla. I don't have the luxury of being the type of girl a rich corporate boss's son wants to date. Besides, how can you just throw them all under the bus like that? You don't know these guys like I do. They're not all that bad. But you wouldn't even give them the time of day to know that."

"I don't need to. I've seen what they've done to you, and that's all the proof I need." She sighed, worn out from this whole situation. "Is Joe still in your room?"

Her face showed that she desperately wanted to continue the argument to clear her name, but she knew there was no use. Utterly dejected, she gave up and nodded.

Kayla made her way up the stairs to Leah's room. When she opened the door, she was met with the sight of Joe staring at the large wound in his side. There was a pile of bloody towels by his side and a few failed attempts at bandages.

"Oh God, Joe! Could you not?" she cringed at the sight, turning her head away.

Joe lifted his head at the new voice. A smile spread across his face as he realized who it was. "Oh hey, Kayla. Long time no see."

"Not long enough," she murmured as she slowly turned back to look at him. The wound still made her a bit squeamish, but she sucked in a deep breath and walked over to him. She knelt down at the bedside and looked over the wound. Leah had been right; it hadn't made a very large wound. However, it seemed to refuse to stop bleeding. "How long has it been?"

"That's a good question… it has to be at least, what, 2 years now?"

She rolled her eyes. "I meant how long as it been since a bullet ripped through your side." She grabbed one of the lesser bloodied towels and pressed it hard against the wound.

He cringed as she pressed the towel against him, but bit his tongue to keep from making any noise. "Geeze, ain't I hurt enough already?"

She shook her head. "You signed up for this life. There's only more of this to come, might as well get used to it."

"Kayla!" Leah cried from the doorway.

"No," Joe shook his head, grinning a little, "it's fine. Looks like you haven't changed one bit."

"I'll be right back." She grabbed his hand and held it against the towel. "Keep pressure on that. It'll help stop the bleeding." She then stood up and walked out of the room, Joe's eyes following her.

Leah hesitantly walked over, sitting down beside him on the bed. "Um," she began rather slowly, "may I ask how you two know each other?"

"Who, Kayla?" A slight grin spread across his lips. "Me and her go way back."

A confused expression crossed Leah's face. "What are you talking about?"

"Well, let's just say Kayla wasn't always the good girl you know her as. Back in the day, she used to run around with kids like us."

Leah was completely dumbfounded. They couldn't have been talking about the same girl. Ever since she'd known Kayla, she was anti anything gang related, and Joe was definitely gang related. Leah's own experiences with gangs didn't help, but the way Kayla acted seemed as if she'd never want anything to do with them.

"Wait, so, Kayla used to hang out with you guys?" She took a moment to process this information. "Even Billy?"

"No," he shook his head quickly, "no, I think they only really been around each other once or twice. She mostly hung out with me and my friends."

She shook her head, unable to believe this. "Kayla, _my_ Kayla, used to run around with you?" She tried to say something more, but could think of nothing and resigned to shaking her head again.

"Yeah," he laughed, "I know, it seems hard to believe. But you know, there was a time when we were practically inseparable."

Leah's eyes widened slightly at this. "Wait, you two? You... and Kayla... like, together?"

"What? Oh, God no. No no no," he shook his head, though he couldn't help but smile at the assumption. "We were never like _that_. She was more like a sister than anything."

"Oh," she spoke softly, wincing in embarrassment at her accusation. "So, what happened?"

"Life," he shrugged, reaching for a cigarette in the pocket of his jacket. He pulled one out and slipped it between his lips. "I don't know. Was probably when I started gettin' into all this stuff." He paused as he pulled out his lighter, taking a long drag as he lit the end. He blew the smoke out in a large white cloud before continuing. "You know, even when it was just me and my friends, and we were only pulling small stuff, she would try to get us to stop. She knew who I was, where I was headed, but I suppose she chose to ignore it. When I started hanging around Billy more, musta finally set in, scared her away I guess."

Now that sounded a lot more like the Kayla she knew. She was about to ask further into this but stopped herself when Kayla walked back in. Now, however, Leah couldn't take her eyes off of her.

"Found just what you need," Kayla announced as she walked over to Joe with gauze, a roll of self-adhesive medical tape, and a bottle of peroxide. She scrunched her nose up as the smell of smoke hit her senses. "Do you mind not smoking in here?"

Joe raised his eyebrow as he looked over at the medical supplies in her hand, ignoring her statement as he took another long drag. "Damn girl, is this treatment one you do on a regular basis?"

She rolled her eyes at his unwillingness to cooperate, but just went along with it. She knew there was no point in trying to fight it. "Well," she went on instead, "when you're living with this one, you never know." She said this while teasingly gesturing towards Leah.

"I could say the same to you," Leah replied almost automatically, without realizing what she'd said. Joe shot her a look, but Kayla only looked at her with a confused expression before shrugging it off by mouthing an '_OK_'.

Kayla pulled Joe's hand away and peeled off the soaked towel. She searched around the pile to find a lesser soaked one, which was not an easy task. Once she managed to get a hold of one that was relatively clean, she opened the bottle of peroxide, balled up the towel at the base of his wound, and carefully poured the solution over his wound. Upon hitting the raw flesh, it bubbled and hissed, but Joe kept silent as he watched. The only visual reaction he showed could be seen as his muscles tensed.

She glanced up at him momentarily, making sure she wasn't causing too much pain, before closing up the bottle and wiping away the excess liquid. Once she finished with this task, she tossed the towel onto the pile of bloody rags and gently placed the gauze on the wound, making sure to put enough to cover the entirety of it. When she placed it where she wanted it, she pulled the medical tape around it tight so that it would hold close to his body with sufficient pressure. After administering what she felt was enough tape, she cut it from the roll and pressed it down for the final hold. Stepping back, she placed her hands on her hips and admired her work. "Not bad, if I may say so myself."

Joe glanced down at her handy work, poking slightly at the bandage. "Yeah, I guess. For someone who doesn't know what they're doing."

She rolled her eyes. "I know more than you do, so I'll take that as a thank you. And you're welcome."

He grinned and stood up stiffly. "Still the same as always I see," he said as he grabbed his shirt off the bed and pulled it on.

"I could say the same to you."

He nodded, "Yeah, I suppose you could." He looked at her for a long moment, as if trying to discern something from her expression. When it looked as if he would have no luck in finding what he was searching for, he sighed and held out his arms for a hug. "For old time's sake?"

She wrinkled her brow at the suggestion then pointed to the spot on his side where his wound lay. "Ain't you hurt enough already?" she mimicked his own words.

He sighed and dropped his arms. A slight grin tugged at the corner of his mouth as he shook his head, turning towards the door. "Same old Kay," he muttered, slipping the cigarette back between his lips and walking out of the room.


	3. Chapter 3

High for This

Ch. 3

Her arms, which were crossed, rested lazily against her waist. She leaned against the door frame with a casual appearance, though if one were to look closely, he or she would see the tension in her muscles. Her eyes meticulously followed the path of the man who just recently occupied her apartment, narrowing as he turned out of sight. "We're dead you know. He'll blab to Billy the second he can."

"Excuse me," Leah suddenly interjected, "when the hell were you going to tell me that you knew Joe?"

Kayla scrunched up her nose at the thought. Joe must have told her. This only served to prove her point further that Joe was not to be trusted. "I never intended to."

"Why is that?" she practically yelled, until she remembered the neighbors were close enough to hear and lowered her voice. "Why haven't you told me? All the shit you give me about the guys I hang out with and come to find out you're all cozied up with the brother of the baddest gang leader in South Carolina!"

Kayla sighed deeply and let her arms fall to her side. She turned away from the doorway and walked back in, closing the door behind her. "_That_ is why I haven't told you. Because I knew _you'd _give me shit about it."

"Of course I'm going to! How could I not? Try having to listen to someone who constantly tells you that every guy you've ever dated is a lowlife."

"OK, stop being overdramatic. I haven't said that about _every_ guy you've dated."

"But you've said that about enough of them. How can you judge them when you've run around with the Darley gang?"

"Hold on a minute. I never 'ran around with the Darley gang'. I was friends with Joe, and that's it."

Leah crossed her arms defiantly. "Well then, if you're willing to hang out with them, then either you're a hypocrite, or you're ignoring the fact that they can have a good side."

She shook her head, slowly rubbing her temples in annoyance. "No, no, no. Leah, you're missing my whole point. I'm not saying these guys are pure evil and messengers of the devil," though she knew some very well were, especially those Leah chose to fraternize with, "some of them are good guys who are just caught in a bad situation. But that's the problem. The lifestyle they've chosen isn't a safe one, especially in regards to relationships. That's why I left. Don't you see? I left because Joe made his choice to be part of that world, and I made mine not to."

"I'm sure that's why you left," Leah mumbled with a roll of her eyes.

Kayla turned her head back at this. "I'm sorry, what was that?"

Leah contemplating going into detail about how her friend always seemed to break off her relationships whenever even the smallest problem arose, as if she were afraid to get too emotionally attached to any of them. On second thought, maybe that situation really was different though. To be safe, she decided to drop the notion altogether. "Oh, nothing," she shook her head in reply. When she looked up at Kayla, however, she noticed that her expression remained unchanged, and quickly moved to change the subject before she could be interrogated about it. "Well, the way I see it, this could be extremely useful."

Kayla took a long pause at this. "OK, now you've lost me."

"Think about it," Leah began, "If you and Joe are really that good of friends, then maybe you could get him to convince Billy to let this whole ordeal go."

Kayla stared at her blankly. "You don't know Billy very well, do you? Or Joe, for that matter." She rolled her eyes as she said the last part.

"I know him well enough," Leah replied defensively.

Kayla glanced over at her friend and sighed. "Leah, asking Joe would be pointless. He follows whatever his brother says; you know he wont stand up to him, especially with business matters."

Leah nodded, but thought over this for a moment. "But if you two still even remotely care about each other, do you realize how much trouble this could save us?" Her voice suddenly took an air of excitement. "If he loves you just as much as he loved you back then-"

"Wait," Kayla interrupted, holding her hand up, "_loved_? Who the hell said anyone ever loved one another?"

"Well, Joe told me you two were pretty close."

"We were _friends_, Leah, that's all," she quickly corrected.

Leah rolled her eyes. "I know, I know," she said, waving it off, "Joe told me. You guys were like siblings and blah blah, whatever. All I meant was that if he still cares about you like he seems to have back then, maybe you could convince him to tell his brother to let this whole ordeal slide."

"What whole ordeal? The fact that you stole thousands of dollars worth of drugs from him, or the fact that you've managed to get his brother shot?"

"OK, that was not my fault. I did tell him to stay upstairs, but he wouldn't listen."

"Leah! You invited Joe in while _knowing_ your psycho ex-boyfriend was coming over for God knows what reason! How is that _not_ your fault?"

"I've already been through this a thousand times. A - I didn't expect him to come over and B - I told Joe to stay upstairs. How am I supposed to control what that boy does?"

"I can't talk to you right now," Kayla sighed, rubbing her temples in aggravation. She turned and walked into the kitchen, but Leah followed close behind.

"Come on Kayla, you know I didn't mean for all of that to happen. It was an accident."

"It may have been, but that doesn't change the fact that Joe got shot."

"A minor setback," she shrugged.

"Minor? How do you call this minor?" _I would love to see what you call major_, Kayla thought to herself.

"You don't know if Joe is really going to tell his brother what happened. He may not even notice. Besides, it's not exactly something to brag about. Maybe he'll be too scared it'll upset his brother to tell him."

"You better hope so," she mumbled to herself, still doubtful.

"And about that other thing, maybe he's forgotten it all by now."

"Trust me," Kayla sighed, "he hasn't."

Leah narrowed her eyes a bit at her. "And how would you know?"

"Leah, if I stole thousands of dollars worth of goods from you, would you just forget about it after a couple of days?"

"Kayla." She spoke heatedly now, as if tired of repeating the same thing over and over again, "You _know_ I didn't steal that stuff from him." She said this in a tone that was certain of her innocence to the crime. "I know I don't always make the best decisions, but I'm not that stupid. You know me better."

Kayla was still annoyed with her friend but was in no mood to argue. "I suppose, but then let me ask you this: If you didn't take anything from him, why is he so sure it was you who did?"

Leah didn't immediately answer to this. She seemed a bit taken aback by the question, as if she'd never expected anyone to ever ask such a thing. After a moment, however, her only reply was a simple shrug. "I honestly don't know."

"That's the best you can come up with?"

"I really don't," Leah sighed in desperation. "Someone must have set me up or something."

_Or you did do it, you just won't fess up_, Kayla thought to herself. It was the only answer that made sense, but she wouldn't say it aloud. She wanted to believe her friend beyond her own doubts. Because of this, she took Leah's word for it. "I guess so. Either way, you owe him a shit-ton of money, and I don't think any amount of sweet-talking him will get him off your case; whether you did it or not." _Trust me, I've tried_.

I somber look came over Leah's face when she contemplated this idea. She turned to her friend and said, "So, what are we going to do?"

To this, Kayla replied, "I haven't a fucking clue."


End file.
